This invention pertains to methodology and a system for handling an imaging job, such as a printing job, with respect to the imaging of that job in a heterogeneous imaging environment, such as a cluster-printing environment, that includes a plurality of imaging devices, such as printers, which may have different, specific imaging (printing) characteristics and capabilities. In particular, the system and method of the present invention address the issue of determining and dynamically associating appropriate data structure for an imaging job, such as within the header in that imaging job, with a compatible, available imaging device in the environment. Data structure determination and association are performed so as to assure that the imaging characteristics and capabilities of a selected cluster imager substantially match the underlying imaging-capabilities requirements of the specific job which is being handled.
The terminology “print-option conversion” is employed herein as a specific-illustration identifier of the broader concept of providing dynamic configuring, including option conversion, of (a) existing, (b) virtual, and (c) pseudo imager drivers, such as a printer driver. The term “imaging” and variations thereof employed herein, is/are intended to encompass any one of (a) printing, (b) faxing, (c) scanning, (d) copying, (e) document archiving/retrieving, (f) document converting/manipulating, (g) document transferring, and (h) device managing.
According to a preferred practice of the invention with regard to a specific, existing imager driver, after an imaging job is created, the imaging command and control data structure associated with the job, typically created by that specific imager driver, is assessed, in a kind of reverse-engineering manner, to determine the underlying imaging requirements of the job. This information is then compared with information that is provided in a look-up-table-type, drivers-definitions data structure, wherein a relationship is drawn between basic imaging capabilities and the specific imaging characteristics and capabilities of essentially all of the potentially available imaging devices included in the imaging environment. Under circumstances where it is necessary to change the data structure associated with an imaging job so as to make that data structure compatible with a then-available imaging device, the appropriate data structure that relates to that available imaging device is revisedly re-written into the imaging job data structure, whereafter the imaging job is appropriately sent to that selected, compatible imaging device. It is also possible that the invention may similarly be used with respect to sending a job to two or more imaging devices.
In relation to working in the settings of virtual (configurable generic) and pseudo (direct-drive imaging) drivers, a job is initiated, imaging preferences are selected, an imaging device, or devices, is/are selected, and the appropriate driver is configured/created dynamically from data in the same kind of drivers-definitions data structure mentioned above.
All configuration practices implemented by the invention are dynamic, and all are based upon job configurations that are derived from the mentioned drivers-definitions data structure, also referred to herein as a library file.
The various important features and advantages that are offered by the present invention will become more fully apparent as the description which now follows is read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.